1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to pumps and is particularly directed to means for preventing cavitation damage to the inducer blades of a pump.
2. It is well known in the pump art that as fluid passes through a pump, it often experiences cavitation which produces bubbles in the fluid flow that subsequently collapse on the various components of the pump and cause structural damage to such components. Unfortunately, the causes of cavitations are frequently obscure and cavitations continue to be a primary factor in limiting the service life of many pumps. Several causes of cavitation have been discovered and the techniques for overcoming them are the subject of my earlier U.S. Pat. No. 3,951,565, issued Apr. 20, 1976, assigned to the present assignee. In spite of these techniques, it is found that cavitation continues to occur for other reasons and the search to detect and eliminate causes of cavitation is unending.